How to Install Claude Code and the Top 5 Skills You Need
March 28, 2026
Claude Code is Anthropic's official command-line interface for Claude, designed to bring AI-powered coding assistance directly into your terminal. Getting started is straightforward: run npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code to install it globally, then set your Anthropic API key as an environment variable. Once configured, you can launch it in any project directory and start working with Claude as your coding partner.
What truly sets Claude Code apart from other AI coding tools is its skills system -- a modular extension mechanism that lets you add specialized capabilities. Skills are like plugins that teach Claude Code new tricks, from smart git workflows to advanced UI design patterns. You can install them from the community registry or create your own.
Here are the top 5 skills every Claude Code user should install. First, /commit -- this skill generates intelligent git commit messages by analyzing your staged changes. It understands conventional commit formats, detects breaking changes, and writes clear, descriptive messages that make your git history actually useful. Second, /review-pr -- a pull request review skill that examines code changes across all files in a PR, identifies potential bugs, suggests improvements, and checks for security issues.
Third, ui-ux-pro-max -- this is a comprehensive UI/UX design intelligence skill that supports 67 design styles, 96 color palettes, and 57 font pairings. It works across multiple frameworks including React, Next.js, Vue, Svelte, and even SwiftUI. Whether you are planning a design, building components, or reviewing existing UI, this skill brings professional design knowledge directly into your coding workflow.
Fourth, claude-api -- essential for developers building applications that integrate with the Claude API or Anthropic SDK. This skill provides best practices, code patterns, and troubleshooting guidance for working with Claude programmatically. Fifth, find-skills -- a meta-skill that helps you discover and install new skills from the community. When you need a capability that Claude Code does not have out of the box, this skill searches the registry and recommends relevant extensions.